Tuesday, 18 April 2017

When in doubt, invoke God and lie for England

Theresa May continues to demonstrate the rank hypocrisy and the opportunism of the publicly Christian. Had it not been for the announcement of her entirely predictable General Election stunt, yesterday's appropriation of the religious mantle and her mendacious and repugnant attempt to interpret far-right rhetoric as a justification for a form of self-aggrandisement that could never be described as either honest or moral would have formed the basis of a lengthy diatribe.

Instead of which, she has now taken the route that Tory opportunists love. Exploiting the absence of any cohesive Labour response that could be regarded as displaying vital signs, let alone the spark of genuine opposition, she has manoeuvred Corbyn into acceding to the likely demise of his own party. Against the background of a process to isolate the UK, ignoring the constitutional crisis that her actions have engineered in Ireland and Scotland, alongside the early warnings that the predictions of the alleged Project Fear are likely to be seen as over-optimistic, and a global crisis of a kind not seen since the 1980s, and May's irresponsibility and treason are nothing if not obvious.

If Labour had any guts, they would not be rolling over and allowing May to stride around as though she is a legitimate leader, with majority support and a proper mandate. They would be refusing to subvert the purpose of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, which was not, as the convenient far right cretins parrot, a means to ensure coalition but to avoid the historic manipulation of the economy for short-term political gain. They would be calling for her resignation and a no confidence vote, while stringing out the process to allow the CPS to identify and charge any Tory for whom they have reasonable proof that corruption stole the 2015 General Election.

Opposing this criminal gang is a duty that should be made much easier by May's hubris and arrogance. In making this election purely around her conduct of the unassisted suicide that is Brexit, she is unleashing all the unspoken demons of the constitutional bankruptcy of the UK. The rhetoric of "will of the people" and the false, snivelling surprise that there is opposition to her inconsistent, party-management approach to government is the ravings of a woman unfit for office, leading a bunch of chancers, sycophants and many scared that their cupidity and criminality will be found out.

The election will become a de facto referendum on Scottish independence. Nothing would be more satisfying than to watch the inadequate Uriah Heep of Dumfries being given a kicking to restore the non-Tory status of Scotland, with Mundell's scalp being a priority for all those who regard the discrepancy between May's "now is not the time" response to an elected government and her blatant party political scumminess in calling an election now when she has spent the last nine months pretending to be a force for stability and unity.

I am lucky in that I shall fill in my ballot paper, in Scotland, with a clear conscience that voting for an effective MP I will not be selling the country short. Elsewhere, unless Labour manages to recognise that it is not fighting for its own life but the country's, opposition will be a matter of constituency calculation. In England in particular, the Liberal Democrats and Greens need to have a good local government campaign to unsettle the Tories who assume that they can pick off Labour at will while growing their own base. National polls tell a story of disillusion with Labour - but the breakdown of two-party politics does not provide the evil forces with an automatic ticket to establish the kind of dictatorship they wish.

It is not realistic, sadly, to suspect that May will not be returned with a working majority. However, they have gambled yet again on the nations' future, with a proven liar at their head. Whatever the inadequacies of Corbyn, an election will be fought on the basis of the damage, mendacity and illusion that she has peddled on behalf of others. If Scotland and Northern Ireland continue to buck the Tory trend, then the game-changer may not be May's securing of five years of thraldom, but the final ending of the Union she has snivelled over with such cant and crocodile tears. It's a gamble that she is unlikely to win, whatever the outcome of her vanity project.